CITY have spurned the chance to send some of their talented young stars out on loan in the pursuit of Youth Cup glory.

CITY have spurned the chance to send some of their talented young stars out on loan in the pursuit of Youth Cup glory.

The Blues are expected to book a final appearance against Liverpool when they meet Newcastle at Eastlands, with a 3-2 first-leg lead.

Victory would put the current City squad in line to emulate the 1986 side with Paul Lake, Andy Hinchcliffe, Steve Redmond and David White, who won the Youth Cup for the first time by beating Manchester United.

A few Football League managers have already cast admiring glances at Jim Cassell's youngsters, with a few offers of loan moves, particularly for striker Kelvin Etuhu, who scored the quarter-final winner against United last month.

But Cassell, who has already lost Micah Richards from his squad because of the defender's surge into Stuart Pearce's first-team plans, is not interested in letting any of his players leave just yet.

"We have players other clubs want to take on loan but it is too early to start thiking about that," said Cassell, who has been responsible for producing an incredible 19 first-teamers since his arrival at City from Oldham in 1997.

Potential

"It is important to remember these lads are still only 18. They have potential but we cannot afford to rush them through because, on occasion, things can go wrong." Even without Richards, City should have enough quality to ease into the final.

Etuhu and Daniel Sturridge are among the most highly-rated young strikers in the country, while midfield duo Ashley Williams and skipper Michael Johnson both scored in the first leg at St James' Park to give Newcastle plenty to think about.

Not that Cassell is taking anything for granted, even though his side are in such a strong position.

"You can never be quite sure how young players are going to react in this situation," said Cassell.

"We want to keep everything nice and relaxed to give the boys the best chance possible of getting through.

"We are trying to keep the pressure off them but, this is one occasion when the result is more important than the performance."